SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for the 4th week of July
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New Perfusion, pH-, and Hypoxia-weighted MRI Approaches for Characterizing the Tumor Microenvironment in Human Glioblastoma
Mon, Jul 18, 2016 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Benjamin Ellingson, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Talk Title: New Perfusion, pH-, and Hypoxia-Weighted MRI Approaches for Characterizing the Tumor Microenvironment in Human Glioblastoma
Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Abstract: Interstitial tissue acidosis and hypoxia resulting from abnormal perfusion and metabolism are a hallmark of cancer. This low extracellular pH and O2 has dramatic consequences, as it is directly linked to the degree of malignancy as demonstrated by elevated mutagenesis, increased populations of cancer stem cells, activation of various oncologic pathways, increased tumor invasion, immunosuppression, increased angiogenesis, and resistance to radiation and certain chemotherapies. Relatively limited in vitro, preclinical, and clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that acidosis and hypoxia play important roles in gliomagenesis; however, there remains a critical gap in furthering our understanding of the role of extracellular acidosis and hypoxia in human gliomas and its clinical relevance due to the lack of a robust non-invasive tool for measuring and localizing regions of low pH and oxygen concentration. Additionally, perfusion-weighted MRI techniques such as dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI are routinely used for quantification of tumor perfusion; however, current approaches for clinical DSC-MRI have several limitations including need for adequate post-hoc leakage correction, limited biomarkers for quantifying vascular heterogeneity and hypervascular tumor volume, and limited information about vascular architecture. To overcome these limitations we have developed a new method for obtaining fast, high spatial resolution pH- and hypoxia-weighted molecular MR imaging of human gliomas using multi-echo amine chemical exchange saturation transfer echo planar imaging (CEST-EPI). The technique works by targeted saturating the longitudinal magnetization of amine protons on glutamine (3.0ppm), a major source of fuel for tumor cells, as they undergo pH-dependent chemical exchange with water protons. Using a multi-echo readout of the MR signal during CEST EPI allows for simultaneously obtaining measurements of transverse relaxation rates, which are dependent on oxygenation of the tissue. Lastly, we will describe new approaches for DSC perfusion MRI, including new acquisition strategies, leakage correction algorithms, and methods for quantifying vascular heterogeneity and architecture.
Host: Professor Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Whtie
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USC Stem Cell Seminar: Bill Richards, Amgen
Thu, Jul 21, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Bill Richards, Amgen
Talk Title: Unlocking the potential of biology for patients
Abstract: Bill Richards' presentation will introduce you to Amgen and its mission to serve patients, as well as to his experience working in industry. Additionally, he will discuss how findings from human genetics are being used to facilitate drug development at Amgen. Bill Richards chairs the postdoctoral steering committee at Amgen and looks forward to meeting with graduate students and postdocs to discuss the Amgen Postdoctoral Fellowship program.
Biography: Bill Richards has been an employee in the discovery research group at Amgen for 20 years.
Host: USC Stem Cell
More Info: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/usc_stem_cell_seminar_bill_richards_amgen?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=USC+Event+Calendar#.V4guYK7Fl04
Location: Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute (ZNI) - 112, Herklotz Seminar Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell
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NL Seminar-LSTM's for OCR
Fri, Jul 22, 2016 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Information Sciences Institute
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Stephen Rawls and Huaigu Cao , USC/ISI
Talk Title: LSTM's for OCR
Series: Natural Language Seminar
Abstract: We present ongoing research into OCR for both machine print and handwriting recognition. We utilize a neural network along with LSTM's to perform OCR directly from pixel intensity. We are exploring a few novel improvements, including using a CNN for feature extraction prior to the LSTM, and combining reinforcement learning into our training to directly optimize word error rate in our test-time decoding procedure, which utilizes a (non-differentiable) language-model based decoding of the LSTM output. Finally, we present the design of the OCR system we used to win a pilot project with the US Census for recognizing handwritten first and last names.
Biography: Stephen Rawls is a research programmer and a PhD student at USC/ISI advised by Dr. Prem Natarajan. He works in the Computer Vision group at ISI on face recognition and OCR, among other projects
Host: Xing Shi and Kevin Knight
More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Peter Zamar
Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
